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Bruce Brown
Bruce Brown (Endless Summer).jpg
Brown in the mid-1960s during the making of The Endless Summer
Born
Bruce Alan Brown

(1937-12-01)December 1, 1937
Died December 10, 2017(2017-12-10) (aged 80)
Occupation Documentary filmmaker
Spouse(s)
Patricia Hunter
(m. 1960; died 2006)
Children Dana Brown, Nancy Brown, and Wade Hunter Brown

Bruce Alan Brown (December 1, 1937 – December 10, 2017) was an American documentary film director, known as an early pioneer of the surf film. He was the father of filmmaker Dana Brown.

Biography

Brown enlisted in the U.S. Navy right after high school, serving on a submarine. He shot his first hobby film photographing surfers from California with an 8mm camera while stationed in Honolulu in 1955. After he was discharged, Brown returned to California and enrolled in Long Beach City College but dropped out to work as a lifeguard.

Brown's films include Slippery When Wet (1958), Surf Crazy (1959), Barefoot Adventure (1960), Surfing Hollow Days (1961), Waterlogged (1962), and his best known film, The Endless Summer (1964), which received nationwide theatrical release in 1966. Considered among the most influential in the genre, The Endless Summer follows surfers Mike Hynson and Robert August around the world. Thirty years later, in 1994 Brown filmed The Endless Summer II with his son Dana.

He also made a number of short films including The Wet Set, featuring the Hobie-MacGregor Sportswear Surf Team and one of the earliest skateboarding films, America's Newest Sport, presenting the Hobie Super Surfer Skateboard Team. These short films, along with some unused footage from The Endless Summer, were included in the DVD Surfin' Shorts, as part of the Golden Years of Surf collection. Brown went beyond surfing a few times with films about motorcycle sport, On Any Sunday (1971), which is held in high regard as one of the best motorcycle documentaries of all time, On Any Sunday II (1981), Baja 1000 Classic (1991), and On Any Sunday: Revisited (2000). He made a guest appearance in the SpongeBob SquarePants episode "SpongeBob SquarePants vs. The Big One".

In 2003, Brown and Alex Mecl revived Bruce Brown Films, LLC to protect Brown's legacy and intellectual property, including his trademarks, copyrights, and vast film archives.

Brown died of natural causes in Santa Barbara, California, nine days after his 80th birthday.

Posthumous documentary

After the death of Brown's wife and filmmaking partner Patricia in 2006, he went into a depression, unable to leave his home. This was a significant change from his previously very active lifestyle. His children, including the eldest, filmmaker Dana Brown, embarked on a camper road trip with the senior Brown to reconnect him with the groundbreaking surfers that had been his friends and compatriots since the 1950s. The trip was filmed, capturing Bruce Brown's return to joy.

Originally planned as a series of webisodes, after Bruce Brown's death the project became a feature-length film, ultimately titled A Life of Endless Summers: The Bruce Brown Story. It was completed in 2020 and featured in the Newport Beach Film Festival's shortened season that August. Due to Covid restrictions, the film was shown at a makeshift drive-in theater at a local mall. The film went on to limited release in a number of film festivals in surfing Meccas.

Filmography

Year Title Director Writer Producer Cinematographer Editor Notes
1958 Slippery When Wet Yes Yes No Yes Yes
1959 Surf Crazy Yes Yes No Yes Yes
1960 Barefoot Adventure Yes Yes No Yes Yes
Surfin' Shorts Yes Yes No Yes Yes
1961 Surfing Hollow Days Yes Yes No Yes Yes
1962 Water-Logged Yes Yes No Yes Yes
1965 The Endless Summer Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
1966 America's Newest Sport Yes No No Yes No
1967 Hare & Hound Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
1967 The Incredible Pair of Skis Yes No No No No
1971 On Any Sunday Yes No Yes No No
1975 The Edge Yes No No No No
1994 The Endless Summer II Yes Yes No No Yes
2000 The Endless Summer Revisited No No executive No No
2003 Step Into Liquid No No executive No No
2014 On Any Sunday: The Next Chapter No No executive No No

Awards and honors

BrucebrownHOF
Brown was inducted into the Surfers' Hall of Fame in Huntington Beach, California.
  • Inducted into the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 1999.
  • On 19 September 2019, a statue of Bruce Brown at Waterman Plaza on Pacific Coast Highway in Dana Point joins memorials to Hobie Alter and Phil Edwards.
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